Link: https://youtu.be/R1JTA6PMS88

 

MVP Concept:

The MVP concept I believe that is most suitable to my venture idea is the “Landing Page MVP”, I want to see how many students (target market) would be interested in a venture like this. Is there remotely any interest? I would love to give them a brief glimpse of what the venture is trying to do in a few words and see who is seeking this service. This would also be a good way to find reasonable assumptions based on the sign ups and metrics of reach of the landing page advert.

Platform:

For now, I am settled on using Instagram as the place to run my advert. Reason? I believe the age group target I have is 18-29 years old, most of them are fond of Instagram. Most of them are college students or college graduates. An advert regarding something they might be interested in can find a way to have better reach for the target market. However, I’m still contemplating and going back and forth between Instagram and Facebook. I believe there is also promise in Facebook, because the platform has more user-base but people aren’t that active through Facebook like Instagram – in my experience.

Ad-Design Concept / Landing Page:

It was hard making a landing page and finding a suitable website to make any design and work on them, I decided to do a prototype of the concept of the landing page I have in mind. And the ad concept was very simple but effective approach.

See below:

Key Takeaways:

Assignment 2 helped me do secondary research. Through these research, I found out areas of opportunity for my venture and I learned few things that I was wrong from my initial assumption.

One thing I assumed that job posting/seeking industry relies on paid keyword searches and advertisements to bring in big revenue, which was far from true. This area is a booster for them but never in their high priority list.

Another key element I learned is customer behavior, seeing as the target market is college students, research through Statista validated some assumptions. Assumptions such as: students spend hours and hours looking for jobs. Majority of students spend from 1-5 hours to look for jobs. On top of that 43% of post graduate students stop looking for jobs that are unemployed. The conversion ratio from seekers to employees is very low.

Most importantly, the assignment helped me figure out what type of business model I should pursue. It made me change elements around in my idea. For example: the secondary research of College Career Centers helped me understand that face to face user interface is a big success in terms of conversion from job seekers to employee. So, I didn’t want Rubicon to just be another job posting/seeking website, I want to hybrid the experience for students with user interface being a key element of the journey. This made realize “Multi-sided platform model” would be most suitable for my venture.

Concerns:

In all honesty, the biggest concern I have is implementing the vision to practice. While it is all well and good to have the idea and reframe/remodel and synthesize the idea multiple times. I believe I lack expertise and experience in areas that could really be detrimental to the process.

I also have concerns on how to find areas of revenue through this venture. I still believe as I’m remodeling the idea along the way, and the secondary research gave me impression on how others bring in revenue but for them they have built a database of users and clients; the real concern is how can I enter the industry market and find a good base of users and clients which can kickstart the idea.

Indeed:

Is a search engine platform for job seekers and job posters. They are a highly popular site with big user database and reach with easy to use navigation for the users. They have a 99% organic click percentage meaning most of their listings and site interface is real and it isn’t scam or fake postings. Insuring most consumer confidence. They have built their platform to payments from SEO (search engine optimization) which amounts to an average of $265 million (annually) with a monthly average of 39.3 million clicks made on their platform. Their paid keywords searches ensures an average of 475 thousand clicks monthly. Their pay per click budget estimates to $722 thousand monthly, for which they pay for an estimated 135,122 keywords. “Jobs near me” is one of their best keywords organically and paid.

Indeed has a bounce rate of 34.5% which is very medium but low compared to industry standards. This indicates that many people spend time to find what they are looking for searching through this website. Indeed is considered one of the most popular websites in terms of job searches. I would personally say that’s a pretty good bounce rate. If you check the data above, Indeed has high traffic on their website per day. It’s higher than their competition averages. As you can see, their traffic comes mostly through direct and organic methods rather than paid sources.

Linkedin:

Is a platform for networking, through this platform you can contact many companies and high-profile individuals that can become an asset to opportunity for individuals. This platform has been recommended for students to maintain a professional outlook. Linkedin is used worldwide and has built an image that is well known everywhere. They have a 99% organic click percentage meaning almost all of the profiles and postings are authentic. They have built their platform to payments from SEO (search engine optimization) which amounts to an average of $332 million (annually) with a monthly average of 116 million clicks made on their platform. Their estimated paid keywords searches ensures an average of 214 thousand clicks monthly. Their pay per click amount estimates to $543 thousand monthly, where they pay for around 67,258 keyword searches. Google ads is another source of income they use. As you can see Linkedin has found other ways to build their brand which ensures them not to spend too much money on keywords like Indeed, because their reach is wider.

Linkedin with their high popularity has way more traffic than Indeed however if you check their bounce rate (53.51%), they have over half of their traffic bounce because it doesn’t satisfy their needs. While it’s main purpose is to network, most networking involved the desire to attain a job or internship to further the career. As a student myself success ratio for us from personal experience is low on Linkedin in terms of finding jobs and internships. Also, if you notice how much traffic they get from their paid keyword searches and paid Google adverts is very small, therefore that explains why Linkedin pays for a lot less keyword searches compared to Indeed.

Aerotek:

While Indeed and Linkedin could be direct competition to Rubicon I wanted to look at a well-known staffing and recruiting agency who focuses on recruitment and job searches for people. Aerotek is a recruiting agency that focuses on job posting and works with companies to help their payroll and recruitments. Aerotek has physical locations worldwide but their big traffics come on their web searches.

Aerotek has a 67% ad coverage with a monthly budget of $80.5 thousand. They have a monthly volume of 187,000 with estimated clicks of 125,000. They have an organic keyword search base where keyword searches like “Aerotek jobs” – help them gather the most volume of traffic. Aerotek’s SEO (search engine optimization) which amounts to an average of $490 thousand (annually) with a monthly average of 143 thousand clicks made on their platform. Their estimated paid keywords searches ensures an average of 52.6 thousand clicks monthly. Their pay per click amount estimates to $80.5 thousand monthly, where they pay for around 10,992 keyword searches They have around estimated 13,995 keywords set to help them have good volume of traffic.

One of the reasons I chose to look in to Aerotek is because they aren’t as big as Indeed or Linkedin, their capital is small and they bring in their traffic more organically rather than investments heavy on pay per clicks or Google ads. Their algorithm set to many keywords helps them be discovered from searches. This is something Rubicon can replicate specially during the startup phases. The most important thing would be to have more user interface because while Aerotek can bring in good traffic, they have a high bounce rate.

Glassdoor:

Is a platform where you can apply for jobs based on reviews of current and former employees of certain companies. This site is more credible for the users because there’s real reviews about the job listings and companies from insiders. Which gives you an insight to what someone can look forward to if they get the job. Company is mostly an online platform with headquarters in California. One of Glassdoor’s strength is their reach globally. They have a 99% organic click percentage meaning most of their listings and site interface is real and the posts are credible. Insuring most consumer confidence. Their SEO (search engine optimization) amounts to an average of $57.8 million (annually) with a monthly average of 25.4 million clicks made on their platform. Their paid keywords searches are perhaps one of the lowest among the company average. Estimated to 759 clicks monthly. Their pay per click budget estimates to $1.36 thousand monthly, for which they pay for an estimated 5831 keywords. As you can see Glassdoor is proof that if you optimize on algorithmic user database then you wouldn’t require to spend too much on pay per clicks which is least of their priorities. Their review system is a way of building the user interface – meaning it gives the person using the platform an indication that they see value from the reviews as if they get inside information. It helps employees and companies to also discover customer trends.

Glassdoor just like Linkedin has a very high bounce rate of 55.15%, while the review system is interface for the users is a great way for them to interact, their conversion ratio is very low (specially for students). As students and many go to these websites to find jobs they don’t usually find them through glassdoor, rather Glassdoor is more optimal for companies and employees of those companies because it helps them with staffing and recruitment. Looking at the data above, you can also see their main priority is search optimization engine they have built a platform well enough so that the paid keywords are virtually non-essential, they are one of the lowest in the industry in terms of paid traffic sources.

College Career Centers:

To do research regarding College Career Center I had to get creative, I asked every group chat I am in for classes this semester along with past colleagues and friends I made in Baruch and asked them all how many of them are part of the Starr Career Center and how many of them use their facilities, 37/63 students said they use their facilities and have an account with the Starr Career Center or contacted them.

Through this data I looked at the offerings Starr Career Center offers. From interview preparation to resume review along with in person consultation. This was very useful information because this is something, I want to replicate to Rubicon formula where there’s user interface in person with the students.

One last thing I did was email someone from the Starr Career Center to ask them what’s their conversion ratio in terms of students seeking jobs/internships to converting them to employees of certain companies.

They said from the students that are part of the Career Center their ratio is estimated to 15-17%, however in comparison to all Baruch Students (20 thousand or so), their ratio is around 9-11%

These were the only “raw” data I was able to acquire, which was helpful because it gave me an impression on how much interactive the Starr Center is with the students and how well they convert the employees.

INDUSTRY CUSTOMER ANALYSIS:

 

OPPORTUNITIES: (Why bother? -> Future?)

Considering all the data I observed, I would like to continue forward with my venture proposal because I see areas of opportunities, such as the way our Starr Career Center operates if we were to maximize that with more employees and more student interaction, allowing them to be updated for every application. Preparing them for interviews when their application is successful, we can change the conversion ratio.

The Aerotek (also Glassdoor) dynamic gave me a better realm of idea to prioritize on maximizing the SEO where you can limit the paid per click budget. Aerotek in terms of how developed the company is; it’s not anywhere near the Indeeds or Linkedin’s and their success is noticeable.

I see areas of opportunity where you can improve the bounce ratio – here’s one idea I have where if an individual student clicks back to homepage or closes the tab/window of Rubicon we simply ask them what was the reason for their visit and if they find what they were looking for? Based on their responses perhaps we can assist further to not have them just see the website and bounce.

So, there are areas of opportunities in this industry as you see from our target market college student’s analysis. Our main goal is to raise student convenience to apply for jobs, you notice the time and amount of effort many students spend searching for jobs just to find nothing. We will do an online platform as well considering that’s the most popular job search area that students use.

There’s certainly potential for this idea to be part of this industry and also as a student myself I face the same problem; therefore I would want to continue to pursue this venture and explore further to make something the students feel is worth it because it’ll help them find opportunities that every student goes to college for.

Interviews Done:

Indeed – Elisse Humphreys (Team Lead, Client Success)

SimplyHired – Amy (Assistant Operations Manager)

RUN.ATL – Tashfique Shantanu (Executive Director)

Factual Part:

I conducted three interviews of 15-20 minutes each. I kept it very brief as the three individuals I spoke to are very busy and it was nice of them to give me some of their time. I was glad to get an interview with an expert of Indeed who were my primary competition.

Between my interviews with the mentioned individuals the Indeed and SimplyHired were from the perspective of a company insider who works there. Indeed expert worked with employees and company representatives to help them find recruitment and post their jobs. SimplyHired expert worked with job seekers and the conversion aspect of job seekers. The last interview was strictly from a startup company management employee, who discussed why they use certain platforms to post their jobs and how they find recruitment.

INDEED – Interview:

For this interview I asked questions from the perspective of her expertise:

• What is one challenge your company faces trying to compete in this industry?
• What is one area in the industry you see opportunity in?
• What are your success ratios in terms of another employee recruiting through your website?
• What is one area you believe a startup in this industry should prioritize to have success?
• What makes Indeed so special compared to other substitutes?

Among other questions these were the very important questions that gave me information regarding the industry and Indeed. She told me one of the challenges her company faces is the applicant tracking system, she doesn’t believe indeed has the best applicant tracking system because the employees who post their jobs on the website a lot of the time has issues tracking the number of applications they received, specially start-ups. She mentioned that Glassdoor has a better applicant tracking system according to her. She mentioned there are areas of opportunity in terms of conversion, she says most of the job posting sites focuses resume database, sponsored jobs, staffing service etc. because those are the most effective areas of revenue but it’s the users specially job seekers and employees posting these jobs that spend most of their time on these websites. Therefore, conversion aspect should be a bigger focus. She said success ratio from the employee side of job posting and finding recruiting from her estimate is close to 11%. She said if someone is starting up in this industry, the best thing would be to have a big differentiator because many of the agencies are very similar and easy to imitate. She believes Indeed’s differentiator sets them apart from others because:  the application process is easy. Being able to manage jobs is easy. Big database. Products and services. – Sponsored jobs (employers sponsor jobs) – Targeted ads for example – nursing targets (ex) – Hired service staffing agency. (15% of starting salary) – Resume database.

SimplyHired – Interview:

This interview was short lived compared to the other two, she told me regarding the job seekers side of things. I asked her question such as:

• What percentage of your job seekers are college level students?
• What are your success ratios in terms of converting job seekers to succeed in getting a job?
• Reflecting on your work with SimplyHired, what are some mistakes you would advise a start-up to avoid?

She told me about estimated 17% of job seekers on their database are college. Their success ration in terms of conversion of these job seekers usually comes to an overall 21% but for students it is 8%. She said, due to online applications and many students applying many companies do not get to check their application or follow through from the database. She said the main mistake startups should avoid in this industry is trying to ONLY build a database of users who they provide service for, instead also build a database of employees, companies, recruiters and others who will work with you to help your base; because if you only build massive user database and don’t go around making deals with companies and use 3^rd party platform to convert the consumers through your platform, the third party can easily cut off your access because they are not getting paid.

RUN.ATL – Interview:

This interview was very brief, the main purpose of this interview was to see what makes them choose certain platforms to post their job listings. The questions I asked were:

• For a startup like yours, what platforms work best to find new talents? Why?
• Do you work with these platforms in order to gain revenue and/or exposure?
• What’s the success ratio in terms of finding recruitment from these agencies and sites?

According to him platforms like Indeed and Linkedin works best because of their popularity and brand name. Most new talents know these two platforms and they tend to always use those. That’s why they choose to post most of their posting on these platforms. They have a small partnership deal with Indeed and Glassdoors for advertisements and job postings, this helps them get exposure out there of their new company which is essential because these companies are affordable in terms of advertising cost for them. The success ratio to them is very small because most of the applicants from these websites don’t get noticed through the system so much, because they operate on an algorithm basis where online applications certain things must get checked when application is submitted those are the ones that gets docketed. He estimates the success ratio to be around 20% or so in terms of recruitment from these sites.

All these interviews provided me a good insight into the industry of job agencies and posting websites. I got the viewpoint of inside these companies and even from an employee perspective. Around ending of each interview, we briefly discussed my class idea for the business. They all said they see a measure of value in it, but they all gave advices on how it can be improved and modified. One of the best advise I received was that:

• My value proposition is very one dimensional and to broaden it more. Seek more opportunities with companies, where instead of making website applications which don’t get many recognitions, you can call these companies directly regarding a client and present on behalf of them by talking about their qualities. Sort of like a manager. Which was something I found very interesting.

Reflective Part:

I was shocked at how much the priority Indeed and SimplyHired put is on their employee and companies’ sectors. Allowing more employees to post on their site is how they build their brand. Where before I had the knowledge that job seekers are their main priority and converting these job seekers to employees is what they do. However, I was completely wrong. A lot of my follow up questions from the pdf file professor provided helped me get more information than I could have thought. A lot of times they elaborated the communication pathways and passages between the company and the platform. The interview raised questions for me in terms of what more value I can instill to the venture. The overarching theme that I noticed was that the companies and employees from other sources must be integral in order for these agencies and job posting websites to succeed. While the customers are the most essential factors, it is them that makes the business tick in this industry.

The Next Step:

I believe the next step I should take in more customer analysis. Develop scenarios and test them to see how well it works with the idea that I have in my head. From the student survey in class and the confidence shown by the people I have interviewed, I would say as of now the idea is worth pursuing but it requires a lot of tuning and as of now, I’m not sure how else and how much more. The expert interview gave me more of an industry insider while the student survey gave me more of a customer insider because the target market are the students. The expert information showed me that student priority is slim in the job finding industry, my venture would only work with students which can bring a lot more conversion rate. The survey showed 15 out of 23 people believe this venture will help them while 4 others see potential of benefit in other students. This indicates there’s some spark and relevance in this idea. Therefore, I would say it would be best to stick with this idea and see how much I can elaborate and pursue.

 

Over the past few days, I have reached out to all my competition I had listed but I didn’t have any luck getting a response back. It has been hard, I can’t lie. I reached out to Indeed.com, I reached out Baruch Starr Career Center, Linkedin, Monster, Glassdoor but so far, I could not schedule anything with any of my primary competition. Still awaiting reply. I reached out to many other start-up companies and few existing job agencies. I had to go through many customer service representatives and many emails and so far, I was able to reach one person. This lady Amy who is willing to answer my questions. She is an assistant operation manager at SimplyHired who has worked at this company for almost 3 years. I am still reaching out to some recruiting agencies around New York hoping to speak to them, if I manage to come to contact with anyone it’ll help me understand how their in-person interaction system works. Some of the key questions I have drafted up (so far) are:

• What is a valuable lesson about the job posting industry that you have learned from your experience that you can share with me?
• What percentage of your job seekers are college level students?
• What is one challenge your company faces trying to compete in this industry? What are some strategies that can be used to attract business?
• What is one area that you believe a company should prioritize in order to compete in this industry?
• What are some areas in the industry you see opportunities in? Why?
• Reflecting on your work with SimplyHired, what are some mistakes you would advise a start-up to avoid?
• What are your success ratios in terms of converting job seekers to succeed in getting a job?

Since my business idea is providing the value of opportunity in the form of jobs and internships to student? My supply side are the employees who often post job listings in websites like Indeed.com, Linkedin etc. Therefore, I emailed a few people who posted jobs on these sites and I was able to schedule a meeting with one person who works at RUN.ATL a marketing and advertising agency based in Georgia who had previous job postings on Indeed and Linkedin

. My objective is to ask him these few questions:

• What their experience of posting in these sites are?
• What is their success ratio in terms of hiring?
• How can these job postings and agency improve their supply of opportunity of their message?
• How many applications get noticed when processed through these websites?
• Why do they choose certain platforms to post their jobs as opposed to others?
• What is one area the job posting, and job agency industry can improve on?

RUBICON
Cross over to your future.

Ever since the COVID-19, it has been a rough ride for any College/University student. Studying virtually has been a hassle but one of the biggest hassles has been trying to find jobs and internships. I know I have been having a major hard time trying to apply or find anything regarding internships/jobs. Due to restrictions and regulations many jobs and internship opportunities have shut down. Students need that added focus and motivation to navigate online to seek, search and find job/internships to apply for positions. Starting at your screen, looking all over the place to barely find any jobs/internships can be really frustrating. Finding employment opportunities for students has been hurt evermore since COVID.

While there are many employment agencies available, the idea I pondered was an employment agency strictly for undergraduate and graduate level students, I call it Rubicon. The name is inspired by how Julius Caesar famously managed to cross over the river, when all seemed lost unattainable. Rubicon will be a platform which will help students cross over the hump which seems unattainable to find opportunities. Rubicon will help students find a future. Students can use the website/app to speak to a representative who will take their resume & cover letters, and for a monthly membership charge, each day they will use the preferred job of the client to apply on behalf of him, continuously per day. Our employees’ job is to apply for jobs/internships on behalf of the students who is having hard time finding something or simply do not have enough time due to schoolwork to search for jobs online.

This will allow more students to find levels of opportunity and reach what their aspirations may be. It will solve the point of pain and frustration students feel in terms of seeking for jobs, which you can outsource in a way to lift a weight of anxiety off your shoulder and still find what you are looking for. Our website and app representatives will apply for job/internships, for a month (until membership renewed or job is found) at any preferred openings available to serve and satisfy your needs.

The main focus of Rubicon is to provide a platform for students to find more opportunities for their future.

 

 

 

WHAT IS TIKTOK?

TikTok was one of the most popular social media apps in 2020. It is video creating and sharing social networking app. It was founded in 2017. Initially it started off with the purpose to have family and friends connect no matter where they were but overtime, they changed their business model. Now, it allows users to watch, create and share 15-second videos through their cellphone. It added many features in terms of creativity, quirks of music, voice over filters etc. It has a high user base especially appealing to young people (Target market: Age below 30). Their most popular user base lies in China. The app solves the entertainment factor in the market. While regular social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc. they are mostly picture based, messaging and communicating features. TikTok takes a unique route of communicating through videos with their AI features that allows users with many different lip-syncing tools and areas of entertainment which is unique compared to other platform. One of the biggest problems it solved is content creation, they made it so much easier for users to make content by making their editing features simple.

BUSINESS MODEL:

(Source: tiktokmodelo.blogspot.com)

FUNDING AND REVENUE STREAMS:

TikTok is owned by Beijing based company ByteDance, that has been around since 2012. Tiktok’s stream for revenues comes from areas like in app advertisements where ads show up in between video searches. These accumulated ads provide them source for money. There are features for in-app purchases where users can sell coins and gift them to favorite video makes. “TikTok offers in-app purchases of coins, starting at 100 for $0.99 and leveling up to 10,000 for $99.99. Users can give coins to their favorite creators, who can in turn exchange them for digital gifts.” TikTok also charges a fee for that. ByteDance has also been accused of many employees from the CCP, where their source for funding along with user data selling businesses and many politicians. Among many other forms of funding, celebrities, big tech, notable institutions receive funding through TikTok (José Andrés, Bill Nye, Lilly Singh, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Tyra Banks are among the notables on the list)

DARK SIDE OF TIKTOK:

While the app itself may seem innocent and harmless, TikTok has controversial records of ties with the CCP and selling United States user-based data to CCP and politician. It is still under investigation for national security threat for data breaching. Along with such issues, it built up notoriety for censorship. One of the most viral incidents being: “New Jersey teen Feroza Aziz, whose account was suspended shortly after she posted a video explaining the CCP’s oppression of Uyghur Muslims”. I’m a huge advocate for the first amendment of our nation and without indulging into a political discussion, I leave my fellow reader to dig more into the issues related to data breach and censorship to make their own judgments in these issues.

LEAKED AD-DECK OF TIKTOK IN 2018:

(https://twitter.com/mattnavarra/status/1090967906807099392?lang=en)

“An advertising pitch deck used by fast-growing short form video sharing app TikTok has leaked, providing a snapshot of usage in its biggest markets in Europe.

The pitch deck was obtained by Digiday which says it was sent to a large (unnamed) European ad agency. Metrics and gender breakdowns for the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy are included in the deck. The slides are dated November 2018.”

REFRENCES:

Doffman, Z. (2020, August 01). Is TikTok spying on you For China? Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2020/07/25/beware-tiktok-really-is-spying-on-you-new-security-report-update-trump-pompeo-china-warning/?sh=5ae304b54014

Glum, J. (n.d.). Meet the head of tiktok, a 35-YEAR-OLD who makes employees do Push-ups if their videos don’t get enough likes. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://money.com/how-tiktok-makes-money-tiktok-owner/

Hao, N. (2020, August 25). TikTok’s parent company Employs Chinese Communist party members in its highest ranks. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.theepochtimes.com/tiktoks-parent-company-employs-ccp-members-in-its-highest-ranks_3451561.html

Hayes, D. (2020, May 28). ‘Learn on TikTok’ funds go to media FIRMS, celebrities LIKE Tyra banks And José Andrés. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://deadline.com/2020/05/learn-on-tiktok-funds-go-to-media-firms-celebrities-like-tyra-banks-and-jose-andres-1202945256/

Jashinsky, Emily (2020, April 01). Why TikTok is the worst way to waste time in quarantine. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/26/tiktoks-communist-china-ties-make-it-the-worst-way-to-waste-time-in-quarantine/

Nolan, L. (2020, March 13). Report: China-Owned TIKTOK focuses on global expansion. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/03/13/report-china-owned-tiktok-focuses-on-global-expansion/

Svab, P. (2020, December 10). Facebook fact-checker funded by Chinese money THROUGH TikTok. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.theepochtimes.com/facebook-fact-checker-funded-by-chinese-money-through-tiktok_3610009.html

Ssvar (2019, January 31). Leaked TikTok ad deck suggests it has 17M+ MAUs in Europe. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://ssvar.ch/leaked-tiktok-ad-deck-suggests-it-has-17m-maus-in-europe/

Zindulka, K. (2020, August 12). Former MI6 Chief: Tiktok Gives CCP a backdoor into POLITICIANS’ Data. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/08/11/former-mi6-chief-tiktok-gives-ccp-a-backdoor-into-politicians-data-through-their-kids-smartphone/